Bosom-board



(No Model.)

S FOSTER BosonyBoard.

Dim-232,605. Pa tented Sept. 28,1880.

- w: NESSES v INVENTOR ATTOBNEYS UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIQEO HENRY S. FOSTER, OF UNION CITY, INDIANA.

BOSOM- BOARD.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 232,605, dated September 28, 1880.

Application filed June 12, 1850.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY S. FOSTER, of Union City, in the county of Randolph and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bosom-Boards; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same,,reference being had to the accompanyin g drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in shirt-front and ironing boards, and is designed to provide an article of this character which shall at once be simple and easy of construction, practical and efficient in operation, and which may be supplied to the trade at a slight initial cost.

With these ends in view my invention consists in certain details of construction and combinations of parts, as will be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of my improvement with the parts in position as when in use, and Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation.

A represents the body of the board, which is provided with an ironing-pad and covered with any cloth of strong texture. This cloth is drawn over the edges a a of the board,which edges are slightly. beveled, and tacked to the sides of the board 11 b. The lower end, B, of the board is formed rounded, and is likewise padded and covered with cloth, the padding here acting as a spring in conjunction with the spring retaining device, to be hereinafter described. In a simpler construction of bosomboard this pad may alone suffice as the spring, the retaining device being, formed without the spring mechanism. The reverse side of the board, which is exactly similar in shape to the padded front, is either given a very hard high polish, if the character of the wood will permit, or provided with a hard-paper surface, of Bristol board or its equivalent.

It is designed to iron the bosom on the padded surface, and then give it the final gloss or polish on the smooth reverse surface.

(3 represents the neck of the ironing or bosom board, over which the shirt is passed and drawn (No model.)

in place to be secured and ironed. D is a hole in the same, by which the board may he hung upon the wall and out of the way when not in.

use. p

E is a spring secured to the upper and rounded portion of the neck-piece by three screws, 0 e c, said spring projecting laterally on either side from the neck-piece and bent this, it also exerts a self-adjusting lengthwise tension on the bosom, holding it taut, and exerting a constant force to remove wrinkles and creases that may beformed in the bosom during the process of ironing. thereby saving the ironer from the necessity of frequently stopping to stretch and pull the bosom free from wrinkles.

The shirt is secured and held on the board by a spring retaining device, T,.which consists of apiece of wood, F, equalinlen gth to the breadth of the board, and provided with the metallic strip G, which is secured to its outside edge, the ends f f of which metallic strip are pivoted to the sides b I) of the board, at the points 0 0, by the pivots H H. The ends of the metallic strip Gr, through which the pivots H H pass, are longitudinally slotted, allowing a slight longitudinal movement on the pivots through which the springs I I act. Said springs are designed to hold the piece F tightly up against the rounded end of the board. One end of the springs is secured to a pin, f, in the end of the piece F, and the other end to the pivots H H. When the piece F is pressed down, as in actual use, the slotted ends of the metallic strip G slip on the pivots H H, thereby allowing the retaining-piece F to come in the same plane with the surface of the board, and is retained in this position by the springs I I. The whole retaining device, consisting of theend piece, metallic strip, and springs, has a free pivotal movement on the pivots H H, and may be raised above or thrust under the board, as convenience may dictate.

The auxiliary devices attached to my bosomboard do not in any way unfit it for use as a board on which to iron small articles, as collars and cuffs, and, indeed, from its size and' lightness and the reverse glossing-surfacc, it is especially adapted for such purposes.

I would have it understood that I do not limit myself to any particular form of construction or combination of parts, but hold myself at liberty to make such slight changes and alterations as are within the spirit and scope of my invention.

Having fully described my invention, What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

In a bosom-board, the combination, with a 

